With the TIF district special election just a few days away, Rapid City community members are taking advantage of public meetings to learn more about the proposed Destination District that includes Libertyland USA.
The South Dakota Mines Student Association Senate hosted a public forum on Tuesday with panelists from both sides of the debate.
Tonchi Weaver of No Free Rides encouraged a no vote on the Destination District TIF. She cited concerns ranging from project transparency to the potential that Libertyland will hurt traffic to downtown Rapid City.
"I do think that the downtown could suffer if this TIF passes. I worry about hollowing out what we've accomplished with other TIFs over the years. The downtown is a very viable place. It is a high performing part of our city and we have spent a lot of money and a lot of effort to draw people into the heart of our city," said Weaver. "And I'm afraid that that is going to be negatively affected if this TIF does pass."
No Free Rides shared a presentation on the Destination District TIF, which pointed to the Rushmore Mall as an example of new local commercial areas cannibalizing existing businesses.
Weaver said another major issue is that the developer isn't required to provide information that helps the public understand if the $125 million Destination District will be successful.
"The public information is completely transparent, but there are things that the developer one does not have to reveal," said Weaver. "We don't know what kind of research they did. We have not seen that. The return on investment study. I haven't seen one of those. I don't know if maybe some of our city officials have, because there are no sunshine laws that apply to private entities, and that's just the way it is. There's nothing that can be done to compel them to lay all their cards on the table."
Meanwhile, Joel Brannan, the project manager for Libertyland and the Destination District, argued that a vote yes for the TIF district will create significant new tax revenue for the city, reducing the tax burden on residents.
"We're looking to bring in somewhere between $4 and $8 million annually into the city coffers. That's more than most projects that we've reviewed have proposed to bring in," said Brannan. "So I think that based on the economic studies that we've done here. And even though we're being accused of not sharing some of this economic data, this is a private business. This is a private project. This project is in no way a risk to the taxpayers. The developer borrows the money. The developer is responsible for repaying that money. The taxpayers at no time are at risk. And the TIFs that have been successful and have paid off, as I said earlier, continue to do just the opposite of raising your mill levy."
Brannon represented Team Rapid City on the public forum panel. The group argues that the Destination District TIF complements the adjacent Catalyst District, which includes a new indoor sports fieldhouse called the Rapid City Sports Complex. Team Rapid City says the Destination District will create hotels, restaurants and entertainment spaces for people visiting the sports complex to use.
"When Rapid City competes to host tournaments or multi-day sporting events, the building itself is only part of the equation," wrote Team Rapid City in a news post on their website. "Teams, families and spectators want places to eat, walk and spend time between games. They want things to do without getting back in their cars and driving across town. The Destination District helps solve that."
Rapid City Finance Director Daniel Ainslie was also a panelist at the South Dakota Mines public forum. He clarified that the Destination District will also contribute upwards of $12 million financially to the Catalyst District that includes the sports complex.
"The Destination District provides $5.2 million in capital funding that is going to be required for the fieldhouse," said Ainslie. "In addition, there's $7.2 million of additional funding for infrastructure improvements that might be necessary based on traffic impact studies. So the entire amount that this district would end up supporting the fieldhouse infrastructure can exceed $12 million. If the project doesn't proceed, then that's an additional $12 million, up to $12 million, that will need to be funded through some other means in order for the fieldhouse to continue."
Ainslie said there is also a joint parking area that would be a cost savings of nearly $2 million, and a plan to remove spoils from the sports complex site to an area of Libertyland. The sports complex site was donated by Pete Lien & Sons and Ainslie says preliminary site reviews indicate substantial earth removal is necessary to build there.
"If the [Destination] District development does not proceed as intended, the earthwork will become significantly more expensive, with early estimates projecting costs of $2 million or more," said Ainslie in an email to SDPB.
Ainslie said the reason these costs were not included in the Catalyst TIF alone is because there was insufficient increment to afford them.
The debate over the Destination District TIF in Rapid City has drawn state-wide attention. Several bills have been filed related to Tax Increment Financing for the 2026 legislative session.
The Rapid City special TIF District election is Jan. 20. Early and absentee voting is now open.
